Within the field of computing devices and software generally, there is a desire to provide greater access to data for an ever-increasing volume of users.
Personal computer and desktop devices, as well as laptop devices, are not capable of executing very large scale computer applications consisting of millions of lines of source code. Because of their size, such applications require large amounts of memory and relatively high cycle speeds of CPU operation in order to run satisfactorily. However, in the 1980's and 1990's, with the popularity of the Internet and world-wide web, there has also arisen a general desire to have dramatically improved interoperability between systems, as well as improved simultaneous communications interfacing and network among an increased number of users.
Unfortunately, the ultimate providers of the marketing information, i.e., the members of the population consisting of the owners of the desktop and laptop PCs in the worldwide economies, are generally enslaved by the operating systems or application programs they run. This is due to a cost dominance which makes it impractical for most users to switch from one system to another once purchased and installed or used in each individual's computing device. Similarly, the vendors of the legacy programs, which typically require large investment costs to purchase, and may require unique operating systems, have tended to maintain user loyalty by coercive practices which provide limited choices to customers. What is needed is a way in which various computing platforms may operate in a unified environment.
Computing systems or interfaces have been devised which operate in a so-called “thin client” mode, i.e., one in which a user terminal or computer may be relatively less powerful than a typical existing PC. The thin-client mode of operation may provide for all application execution to take place at the server. In this type of thin client, the client acts essentially as a terminal emulator, using a commercial network such as the Internet, to submit input to the application running at the server level, and displaying the output of the executable resident on the server. This mode of operation is comparable to a mainframe terminal.
The efficiencies of the thin client mode of operating a computing device stem from the manner in which a large size program may be accessed remotely, with the large size program not being downloaded to the computing device of the user. Instead, the large program is accessed remotely by that computing device user (and likely by other users simultaneously as well). Applications have historically been delivered to users over a network by means of a thin client. Files have also been transmitted to users over a network via various systems such as FTP, or as attachments to an e-mail. Links to web pages or file downloads have similarly been practiced. What would be desirable is a system using familiar user modalities to provide a richly functioning interactive and collaborative communications media based at least in part on a remotely-executing application.
An additional problem occurs when computer users in locations remote from each other attempt to share data files, e.g., word processing “document” files, among themselves. Many viruses are spread via e-mail attachments, particularly where the native application for the attachment file utilizes macros, i.e., executable code running within the native application that is embedded within a data file. Accordingly, as a securing precaution many companies have prohibited all e-mail attachments. Furthermore, many Internet Service Providers have file attachment size limits of from one to five megabytes, to reduce strain on their infrastructure. It would be desirable to provide remote user access to data files of arbitrarily large size without sending the file itself, and without the necessity of the recipient ever downloading the file. In addition, application interface settings can be customized by the individual, but those settings are the same for all documents that person works on. This is depicted in FIG. 3c, (Example of existing Windows Application Interface Customization). It would be desirable to provide the ability to associate custom interface settings with each file. Finally, large file transmission is impractical for users with relatively low-bandwidth connections to a network, such as the Internet, particularly when these files do not admit of significant compression. For example, a typical analog connection may provide transmission of 56 K/second. However, an AutoCAD® file for a bridge design might be several hundred megabytes. To download that at 56 K would actually take days.
The originators of some data files may wish to restrict the ability of file recipients to change a document. Currently, software exists, e.g. ADOBE®'s Acrobat PDF (portable document format) software and client viewer software, and other page-description systems that allow data files of certain types to be transmitted in a format which restricts the ability of a recipient to make changes to the data file. This file is then sent as an attachment or download to the recipient, who then views it if he has the PDF viewer installed on his computer. PDF is essentially a “picture” of a document, meaning that the recipient cannot change it. However, a data file originator may wish to restrict use or access of a document in other ways in addition to restricting modification of a data file. For example, a data file originator may wish to restrict the number of times a remote user may view a document, or restrict the ability of a remote user to even save the document. It would be desirable to provide a system by which a data file or “document” originator may restrict access or permissions to a data file in ways other than merely restricting modification.
Finally, with regard to data file and “document” file sharing, a file originator cannot always be certain, without prior consultation with a document recipient, whether the recipient has the necessary software, i.e., the data file's native application of the same version used by the originator, to view the data file as it appears to the originator. A document originator will wish to be sure that a recipient will be able to view, and perhaps work with a data file, regardless of whether the recipient has a program capable of opening that file installed on his or her PC. This is the function of ADOBE®'s PDF (portable document format). With PDF, a PDF file is derived from a document by the ADOBE® conversion utility. However, even with document formats such as PDF, the originator does not have complete control over the use put to the document. For example, it may be saved by the remote viewer. Also, with PDF, a recipient cannot alter the document in any way.
It would be also desirable to provide a thin client computing environment in which collaboration between users may take place, i.e., one in which various users may simultaneously view a single data file using a thin-client application.